Heightened Sexual Misconduct Victimization Rates among Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Women: Results From a Campus Climate Survey

Sexual assault, harassment, and stalking are commonplace among college students, with identified subgroups being particularly at risk (e.g., Greek-life organizations and intercollegiate athletics). Despite higher rates of sexual misconduct among active-duty military and service academy women, no research has examined the risk for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) women. A total of N = 1,562 college women were sampled from a sexual misconduct campus climate survey. ROTC women reported higher victimization rates for all variants of sexual misconduct and violence relative to the broader student population, as well as previously established high-risk groups. Directions for future research and implications for prevention programming/response are presented and discussed.

1421Effects of the Colombian armed conflict on reproductive, maternal and child health

Background Colombia has been affected by internal armed conflict for 70 years. About 7.3 million people have been internally displaced and nearly 50% of them were women. In conflict-afflicted areas, pregnant women and newborns have higher rates of adverse health outcomes. Methods Secondary analysis of public databases. We examined sixteen indicators from the Countdown to 2030 initiative, for which data from Colombia were available and reliable between 1998 and 2016. We also constructed a variable (victimization rate) to measure the intensity of the conflict for each municipality/year and grouped them into quintiles. We compared relative differences and confidence intervals using the Rothman and Greenland method. Results Across time, most indicators improved in all municipalities. However, four indicators were significantly different between municipalities with high versus low victimization rates. The maternal mortality ratio was higher in the municipalities with higher victimization rates in the periods 1998-2004, 2005-2011 and 2012-2016. The percentages of caesarean births and women who received four or more antenatal care visits were lower in settings with highest levels of victimization (1998-2000,) while the fertility rate among women 15-19 years old was higher in those municipalities between 2012 and 2016. Conclusions In Colombia, several maternal and child health indicators have improved during the years of the conflict; however, municipalities most affected by the armed conflict had poorer reproductive and maternal health outcomes. Key messages Maternal and reproductive health were negatively affected by protracted armed conflict in Colombia.

Order Effects of Presenting Coercive Tactics on Young Adults’ Reports of Sexual Victimization

Measures designed to collect prevalence reports of sexual victimization need to be robust against variations of question context to yield valid findings. Previous research has examined variations in the order in which questions about unwanted sexual acts and questions about coercive tactics are presented. The current study examined potential effects of the order in which coercive tactics are presented on self-reported prevalence rates of sexual victimization. The following two versions of the Sexual Aggression and Victimization Scale (SAV-S), a validated measure for studying sexual aggression victimization and perpetration in college students, were used: (a) the standard version in which the physical-force items were presented first and the items referring to the use of verbal pressure were presented last, and (b) a reversed order in which the verbal-pressure items were presented first and the physical-force items were presented last. Items referring to the exploitation of the victim’s inability to resist were placed in the middle in both versions. In a sample of 856 participants from Germany (475 female, 381 male, mean age of 24 years), most of whom were university students, 80.4% of women and 55.3% of men reported at least one experience of sexual victimization since the age of 14. No order effects on overall victimization rates were found. For both genders, the victimization rate through verbal pressure was higher when this tactic was presented first. Victimization rates through the threat or use of force were higher in the force-first than in the force-last condition for women, but could not be tested for men due to small cell sizes. No order effects were found for both men and women on reports of victimization through exploiting the inability to resist. The implications of the results for the reliable measurement of sexual aggression are discussed.

Nonresponse bias when estimating victimization rates: A nonresponse analysis using latent class analysis

The study expands empirical knowledge on nonresponse bias when estimating victimization rates by using latent class analysis (LCA). Based on information about proxy-nonrespondents (hard-to-reach respondents and soft refusals), the study identifies subgroup(s) of persons who are systematically underrepresented by refusal and unreachability and determines whether an over- or underestimation of different offense-specific crime rates (prevalence and incidence rates) is to be expected. Therefore, a broad review of the current state of research is carried out, followed by a nonresponse analysis of a large-scale victimization survey conducted in Germany (n = 35,503). The paper illustrates that a variety of factors must be considered when analyzing nonresponse in victimization surveys and that the current state of research does not allow definitive conclusions about the amount and direction of nonresponse bias. The following analysis shows that LCA constitutes an excellent approach to determine nonresponse bias in surveys. In each sample, one class of person was identified that is systematically underrepresented, both by refusal and unreachability. Here, victimization rates of violent crime tend to be significantly higher, indicating an underestimation of crime rates.

Violent Victimization Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations in the United States: Findings From the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017–2018

Objectives. To estimate US nonlethal violent victimization rates for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) males and females aged 16 years and older and to compare disparities among LGB and straight males and females, controlling for other correlates of victimization. Methods. We used data from the 2017 and 2018 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to provide nationally representative rates of various forms of violent victimization for self-identified LGB and straight persons. Multivariable models assessed the risk for violence associated with LGB status. Results. Total violence rates were 2 to 9 times higher among LGB persons compared with heterosexuals. For some forms of violence (e.g., rape and sexual assault, violence with serious injuries, and multiple offender violence) there were notably high disparities between bisexuals and heterosexuals. With adjustment for covariates, LGB orientation was associated with odds ratios nearly 2 to 4 times those of heterosexuals. Conclusions. This is one of the first known uses of NCVS data to estimate LGB victimization, revealing substantially higher rates of violence directed at LGB individuals. Public Health Implications. Sexual orientation and gender identity questions in federal surveys such as the NCVS enable monitoring of violent victimization rates and should continue. Collecting these data can help researchers understand victimization risk and guide appropriate resources toward victim services, especially important given the high violent crime levels experienced by LGB individuals. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print December 22, 2020: e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306017 )

Prevalence of Sexual Victimization Among Female and Male College Students: A Methodological Note With Data

This study provides insight on how sample recruitment methods may affect reported rates of sexual victimization on college campuses. The study compares sexual victimization rates among students who complete surveys after initial requests with those who complete them only after multiple reminders. Using probability sampling methods, undergraduate students from 12 universities were invited to complete a survey on campus violence; initial invitations were followed with up to five reminders. Women ( n = 1,008) and men ( n = 344) who completed surveys were categorized as early, middle, or late responders based on the number of reminders required to convert them from non-responders to responders. About 24.2% of women and 15.6% of men reported sexual victimization in the previous two months. In initial analyses, female early and late responders did not differ on sexual victimization, but males did. Male late responders reported higher rates of sexual victimization than early responders. In sensitivity analyses that re-defined early and late responders, women who were early responders reported more sexual victimization than women who were late responders, while men who were early responders reported less sexual victimization than men who were late responders. These findings suggest that researchers may underestimate sexual victimization rates for male college students unless multiple attempts are made to solicit their participation. Researchers are encouraged to utilize multiple reminders to increase research participation.

Improving Social Norms and Actions to Prevent Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: A Pilot Study of the Impact of Green Dot Community on Youth

Sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV), which often co-occur with bullying, are serious public health issues underscoring the need for primary prevention. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a community-building SV and IPV prevention program, Green Dot Community, on adolescents’ perceptions of community social norms and their propensity to intervene as helpful actionists using two independent data sources. Green Dot Community takes place in towns and aims to influence all town members to prevent SV and IPV by addressing protective factors (i.e., collective efficacy, positive prevention social norms, and bystander helping, or actionism). In the current study, one town received Green Dot Community (the prevention-enhanced town), and two towns received prevention as usual (i.e., awareness and fundraising events by local IPV and SV advocacy centers). The program was evaluated using a two-part method: (a) A cross-sectional sample of high school students from three rural communities provided assessment of protective factors at two time points (Time 1, n = 1,187; Time 2, n = 877) and (b) Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from the state Department of Health were gathered before and after program implementation (Time 1, n = 2,034; Time 2, n = 2,017) to assess victimization rates. Youth in the prevention-enhanced town reported higher collective efficacy and more positive social norms specific to helping in situations of SV and IPV over time but did not differ on bystander behaviors or on victimization rates. Community-based prevention initiatives may be helpful in changing community norms to prevent SV/IPV.

Crime, Trust, and Signaling

Today, Mexico is faced with a severe crisis in the fields of security and crime which has seeped into all areas of political and social life. In the last three decades, kidnapping has seen a puzzling evolution from a politically driven act in the 1970s to a crime that targeted the wealthy in the 1990s to a widespread crime that targets middle- and low-income victims today, thus producing many more deaths and higher victimization rates. Explaining these changes and how they affect communities in Mexico is the central objective of this book. This chapter outlines the theoretical framework for the book. I will use signaling theory to explore problems of trust in the context of kidnapping in Mexico City. This chapter presents a discussion of these theories in the broader context of governance.

Criminal Victimization Experienced While Studying Abroad: An Examination of Rates and Other Relevant Factors

There are growing rates of U.S. college students studying abroad and existing literature reveals that college students experience moderate to high rates of certain types of crime; however, little is known about the victimization rates of college students while studying abroad. This is the first study known to use anonymous self-report data that examines the rates of various forms of victimization experienced while studying abroad. Findings from a sample of more than 1,000 undergraduate students studying on six continents revealed that victimization rates are low, with the exception of sexual harassment, unwanted touching, and theft. In addition, findings suggest that self-reported victimization rates vary depending upon the severity of the crime, respondents’ sex, and continent of study. These findings suggest the need for further research and additional programming; suggestions are put forth.

Measuring crime through victimization: Some methodological lessons from the ICVS

The objective of this study is to demonstrate that there are design errors in the International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) that lead to biases in the estimates of victimization rates. This will be verified, firstly, by comparing the crime rate derived from the ICVS microdata with that based on the reference population and, secondly, examining the consequences of two ICVS methodological decisions: the use of individual weights and the re-weighting procedure in accordance with household size. These sample design failures, which generate distorted crime rankings, call for the need to make corrections both in the subsequent waves of the ICVS and in the final design of a future European survey.